Second Chances for Nathan Chapter 14, Part 2, Page 92
Dee's ride to Brookfield seemed slow. She was hungry and getting tired. When they pulled into town, Dorothy was waiting for her. "Hello Dee! Everyone is home waiting for you."
"Me too! I really appreciate your help." Dee gave Dorothy a hug.
"Don't be silly. You are my sister and will always have a place to stay with us anytime! So, let's just get home and have some dinner. The children will be thrilled to see you." Dorothy smiled.
When Dee and Dorothy came through the door, the twins, Robert and Roberta, came running to them racing to see who would get there first. "Auntie Dee!" they shouted.
"Hello you two! What have you been up to?" Dee asked.
The twins rattled off all sorts of activities they had been involved in since school started. They had bragged that their Aunt was coming to teach music to the school. Dorothy assured them she was just as excited as they were.
Dinner with Dorothy, George, and the twins was a treat being with family. Dee talked about teaching music at the school in Hope Valley and the visit from Superintendent Landis. He hoped she would get a good response in Brookfield, and if so, he'd hire a permanent teacher for Brookfield.
Dorothy asked if she was enjoying dating Nathan. George just smiled. "Dorothy we went to a concert in Benson Hills. We rode with his friends, Bill and Molly. We ate at Benson Hills Inn and it was so delicious and the concert was so amazing. Some of my teachers were in the symphony. It really was wonderful!"
"Sounds like the perfect first date with your new 'old' friend!" Dorothy winked.
After dinner, the children were put to bed with a few stories that their Auntie Dee read to them. She loved added sounds and songs to make the story more interesting and they enjoyed snuggling up with her to listen.
"I best be going to bed now too. I want to get to school before the children of course, so I'll say goodnight and see you in the morning." Dee hugged her sister.
As planned, Dee was at the school bright and early. The students were excited to meet her. She started her class singing a little tune that they all could follow along with, just by listening. As they sang, she wrote the notes on the board. She told them the notes were liking reading a book, and once they learned how to raise and lower their voices they could read music. All the students began with
Do, Re, Me, Fa, So, La, Ti, Do and then sang backwards. She talked about how different instruments made music and demonstrated with different amounts of water in bottles. By the end of lesson she knew this proved very popular and she briefly touched on possibly starting lessons after class every other Friday and handed out fliers for each of the students to take home, and a written assignment learning how to begin reading music. Every student was interested and anxious to learn more. Dee felt badly that she was only going to be there every other Friday. It seemed too little for these little minds so anxious to sing. She would have to think on how she could provide for them better.
"Hi Dorothy!" Dee said as she walked in to Dorothy's house with Robert and Roberta. "Mom, you should have heard Auntie Dee sing today!" the children said proudly.
"Well, tell me all about it!" Dorothy was anxiously awaiting details.
Dee filled her in about how receptive the children were and shared with her that teaching every other week simply wouldn't do right by the children. She was afraid that they would grow discouraged without steady lessons. "I'm not sure what to do about this situation."
"Well Dee, you have 2 more weeks to think about this before your next class." Dorothy reminded her.
Most of the day Dorothy and Dee chatted away about the concert, school, and of course, Nathan. "I wish Colleen could see him now," Dee said wistfully, "she would be so proud of Nathan adopting her daughter and being such a good father for her! Every decision he makes, he does with her in mind."
"What kind of relationship do you have with Allie?" Dorothy asked.
Dee filled her in on how she first saw her when dropping off sheet music for Nathan at the Grants and she could see Colleen in her right away! "We hit it off right away!bWhen Nathan walked in to the music shop I was taken aback not only because of how long it had been since I saw him, but how handsome he was! I admit that I brought over the sheet music just because I wanted to see him again. He was not only handsome, but kind and was helping fix up his mother's home."
"I can see he's captured your heart Dee. I'm sure mom and dad will be thrilled to hear the good news." Dorothy added.
"Oh, I already called and told them, and they were very happy. They saw him at Sunday church the week he was up there. They were impressed." Dee informed her sister. "Actually, he and Allie are going up to Brook Springs tomorrow, to help his mother come down to Hope Valley. She's retiring after all these years alone because her doctor warned her that her health isn't the best with a little heart trouble and her arthritis getting the better of her. Nathan too wants her close now too."
"How do you feel about this?" Dorothy inquired.
"Oh, just fine, she is such a delightful person. She welcomed me right away and remarked how I have grown up," Dee laughed. "I was at her home a lot teaching Allie and Karen music. Then she would invite me to stay sometimes for dinner. One time she invited mom, dad, and Walter when he got home from the war as a little celebration. I complimented Allie and sure enough, I was included in the German cooking lessons too!"
"Oh, she's prepping you to cook German foods That's a very good sign." Dorothy teased.
George came home from work and soon they all had dinner together. Robert and Roberta wanted to go outside and play afterwards, so they after cleaning up they all went outside. Dorothy pointed out to the New Hope Orphanage and Dee was thinking aloud, "That was where Karen, Allie's friend, was before she was adopted."
"Maybe tomorrow, you can go over there and see for yourself." Dorothy suggested.
"Yes, good idea, I think I'll just do just that!" Dee nodded.